Not Third Place (Gaige x Reader)

The Reunion

You hated the snow. It was cold, frigid, and made everything seem bleak. Your reluctance to be in such a weather hostile planet made you drag your feet on the trip there.

Xylouegos was a snow planet. A harsh one at that. This almost made Pandora look like a theme park made for kids on your flight there. Horrible mutated creatures came from the walls and ground alike, and were twice as viscous as their Pandora counterparts. To make matters worse, the bandits here weren't just organized, but were complete zealots for their beliefs. Cultists.

You had been actually shot down from the sky, but you were lucky enough to to maneuver around the mountains and giant boulders while you were crashing. After a few brief firefights and sneaking around, you were able to make it to the Cursehaven, where it looked like some battles had already happened. A few dead bodies, a lot of weird people, and a bunch of darkness.

Eventually, you made it to The Lodge. There was a strange old scent of history of a bygone era that you weren't a part of in this building. The lobby had a cozy fireplace, some chairs, presents and balloons! Yet, it's still off putting since there was a tall and slender man with pure black eyes that had stared at you since you walked in through the front doors. The place itself is already kinda creepy to begin with, but the proprietor successfully made it even more unnerving.

"Hello there," you manage as you shuffle inside. The man introduces himself as Mancubus Bloodtooth, and then proceeds to welcome you inside. He mentions something about paying for your drinks, but you tell him that you don't intend to do much of that — not while you're in this crazy cavern at least...

You spot Hammerlock and Jakob, but they seem to be a little...occupied with the wedding. Nothing is going as planned it seems, you'd offer some kind of conversation or pity, but you aren't sure how to approach the situation that has unfolded during the event. Suddenly, you hear a voice that couldn't be mistaken for anyone else's.

"Aw come on babe," it's Gaige, from directly above you. "Please, please! Give me a sign that you're still there...Anything?"

The pain in her voice is disheartening. Something bad happened.

You find the stairs and start ascending them. "No...no, no, no, no!!" You've never really heard some turmoil in her voice before, not since...Focus!!

When you turn the corner and see her back as she looms over a table with communication gear displayed out over it. She hunched over and shaking her head. Her red pony tails swaying back and forth and she continues. "He was...he was all I had left..."

She's never called anyone else babe before, so it isn't a much of puzzle who she is mourning over...Something definitely happened to Death Trap.

She falls back into a chair and lets out a heavy sigh. Gaige just stares forward without saying anything else. You step forward and place a hand on her shoulder.

"Gaige?"

The sound of your voice causes her to spin around. "[Y/N!" She yelps and lunges at you, wrapping both her metal and human arm around you. The embrace is tight and amazingly warm, yet it's out of hopelessness and sorrow.

This is not the reunion you thought it was going to be. But, you suppose you weren't really sure what to expect...not this though. "I killed Death Trap!"

She sounds truly heartbroken. She holds you tighter. "What have I done? Oh, my god what have I done?" She hugs you even tighter.

You wrap your arms around her smaller frame and bring her closer and place your chin on the top of her head. There are a thousand words you could say, but instead you just hold her. The pounding of her heart is so intense you worry she might be experiencing something more than just emotions. She curses and buries herself into your body...

When she pulls away. You look at her face. She's grown up, but it's strange seeing her so torn apart at the same time. You take the pad of your thumb and run it over her pale cheek - right where her bandaid used to be. She sucks her lips and bites the bottom lip.

"You'll be alright, Gaige." You hold her head as she frowns and looks down. She looks back and forces a smile to say something, but something drags her away when something blinks and chimes behind her. One of the screens on the table flashes on, displaying Death Trap jolting straight up.

"Holy moly?! HE'S OKAY! YES! Okay, finish off those frickin' mutants!" She goes back, looming over the desk again. "Laser that dude's face off, babe!!"

The display shows the current generation vault hunters go on to fight something horrible in whatever room they are in. Within a few minutes however, with the help of Death Trap 2.0, they slaughter it. Between the cheering Gaige gets on the microphone. "Booya!! High-fives all around! Do not leave my boy hanging!"

Gaige jumps on you to pick up where you left off. You hold onto her bridal style as she swings around. She giggles and nuzzles you like she'd sometimes do before after her quests back on Sanctuary all the time ago. "I've missed you so frickin' much, [Y/N]! I'm so glad you could—"

She's cut off again by something crashing below you. You hear Hammerlock scream and yell as it sounds like someone bursts out the door. Gaige hops off you and peers over the balcony as Hammerlock continues to feed information into an ECHO device. He too, storms out The Lodge.

"Ooh, this is so not going to plan! Vault Hunters, I'm recalling Death Trap back to The Lodge. Come meet us pronto-status!" She goes back to the desk and pulls up a list a and a map - perhaps a blueprint? "Here, I found a fast travel station for you!" She looks back at you. "Heyy, buddy? Want to join me in a quick adventure?"

Gaige goes around the table and grabs an Atlas assault rifle — something you had a helping hand in making. She hands it to you and winks. "Good stuff by the way, I don't need to worry about aiming anymore. Not with these smart rounds~"

You can't help but feel flattered. Even though you've got hundreds of questions to ask, it seems you'll have to settle to keep them tucked away until you save a wedding, and Gaige's job first.